good day. as we start the 2:00 p.m. hour here on the east coast, brian williams along with katy tur here with you. we're just a few days into a week that, let's not forget, the experts have roundly warned would be the hardest that a lot of americans have ever faced and the death toll continues to rise across our country. there are currently 386,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the united states. remember, we have no accuracy number of how many people have

this virus. this is just among those who were able to get tested. more than 12,000 lives have now been lost. new york city remains the epicenter of this crisis. it has received a shipment of 600,000 much-needed masks, but there are still shortages of a lot of important equipment like gowns, like ventilators. the state saw its largest increase in deaths so far today, more than 731 souls lost, but experts are cautiously, cautiously optimistic that the state may be close to the apex of this. >> we talk about the apex and is the apex a plateau? and right now, we're projecting that we are reaching a plateau in the total number of hospitalizations, and you can see the growth and you can see it's starting to flatten. again, this is a projection. it still depends on what we do.

and what we do will affect those numbers. this is not an act of god. >> much of the rest of the country is doing its best not to wind up like new york. but for many, it could be too late. health officials are now worried that the d.c. metro area could be the next major hot spot, after d.c., maryland, and virginia recorded their biggest single-day rise in covid-related deaths. florida is also getting hotter. this morning alone, the state confirmed nearly 900 new cases. meanwhile, though, in los angeles, city officials are begging people to consider this week a critical week. do not go to the grocery store, do not go for a run. stay inside. in addition, the city's mayor, eric garcetti announced everyone will be able to apply for a covid test, not just those who are high risk. he joins us shortly. >> we want to start with our reporters from around this

country, from new york, we have nbc news correspondent gabe gutierrez. and in florida, we have nbc news correspondent, sam brock. sam, i would like to begin with you, because we've done so much reporting on the situation in new york. and i think i speak for everyone, we were watching florida closely. we saw they moved late on getting people off the beaches. they had what looked like almost a normal spring break season. we know about the population of seniors in the state. so how to know where we are on the curve in that state, i guess, is the question. >> reporter: brian, katy, thank you so much for having me on this afternoon. to give you a little bit of context right now, and we are being heckled a little bit, so you'll have to bear with me for a second, brian, but yesterday at this time, we had 13,300 cases of confirmed coronavirus here. fast forward 24 hours, and we do

apologize for this. fast forward 24 hours, and we're now at 14,500. that's a 1,200 increase, just in the last 24 hours. as we talk about the state lagging behind here, this is going to be a little bit difficult. let me send it back to y'all for now and see if we can get this all cleared up and we'll get you some updated information. >> okay, sorry about that. >> we understand. >> obviously, an individual with a lot to say. gabe gutierrez in new york, if you would. >> hi, there, brian. yes, as you mentioned, we just heard a short time ago from governor andrew cuomo saying there were 731 deaths in a 24-hour period. it is the single deadliest day in new york state since the start of this outbreak. to put in perspective, brian, that's about one death, roughly every two minutes during that 24-hour period. 731 families that are mourning the loss now. there is some room for optimism

here, according to governor cuomo. and that's because over the last three days, the average of hospitalizations has dropped slightly. and as you heard the governor just say, that's the reason state authorities are now projecting that we could be at the beginning of this plateau here. but brian, as you know, doctors and nurses throughout this region are still stretched to their limit. and the state and the city are still trying to make sure that they have adequate hospital beds over the next coming days, to be able to withstand the crisis. the "usns comfort" where i was earlier today, a crew member there has just tested positive for covid-19. that ship has only tested about 50 patients so far. and right now, it's now being made available for covid-19 patients. about 500 hospital beds will be open there, in addition to the 2,500 at the javits center. now, one of the largest churches in the world, the cathedral of st. john the divine, over the next coming days, is expected to

also provide an additional 200 beds within that church. so state authorities, city authorities here in new york are, you know, there is some of that encouraging news, brian, but again, it's hard to overlook 731 deaths in one day, the single deadliest day during this outbreak, brian. >> i'll take it from here. i have one other question for you. the bed capacity. javits center is now open, the "usns" is now open, even though there is a crew member who has tested positive with covid. there are a number of other field hospitals. what is being done to alleviate the overcrowding in the ers right now? how is that being considered and how quickly can they get patients from the hospitals to the javits center or two any of those other field hospitals? >> reporter: yeah, katy, that's a growing frustration among many of the doctors and nurses that we have spoken with. there were growing calls for several days. you'll remember, the initial plan for the "usns comfort" was for it to treat non-covid

patients. the governor yesterday asked president trump in the morning to open that up -- to open the ship up to coronavirus patients. it has now gone from 1,000 beds to 500 beds, but as you mentioned, there's still, and only a few dozen have been treated there. some of the doctors and nurses that we've spoken with, especially in the hardest hit areas like brooklyn and the bronx and queens, they are still feeling overwhelmed in their ers. however, you know, city officials say that right now, it isn't necessarily hospital bed capacity, at the very moment, that is the biggest problem, but what they have been looking for in the last couple of days is an increase in medical staff. they put out that alert that many of us got on our phones late last week, asking urgently for medical staff to volunteer. more than 20,000 out-of-state volunteers have done so so far. and the goal is to be able to have enough staff, enough ppe, enough hospital beds over the next coming days so that we --

as we reach the apex, as the governor has described it, there would be enough of that available. again, the encouraging news, if this were to plateau over the next coming days, we do see at the current times to have enough capacity, because, as you've said, the javits center is mostly empty right now. the "comfort" is mostly empty. so the question really will be, will that curve continue to flatten and continue to plateau over the coming days. doctors and nurses, though, on the front lines of several of those hospitals, they are telling us they're so stretched to their limit, not just physically, but emotionally, this is a true test over the next coming days whether they'll be able to pull out of this crisis. guys? >> you can build all the beds in the world, but if you can't bring patients and put them into those beds, then they're just useless. gabe gutierrez in new york city. thank you for all of your reporting. and the city of los angeles is out now with now strict guidance for its residents today. do not leave home unless it is

absolutely necessary. the county health director even advised, quote, if you have enough supplies in your home, this would be the week to skip shopping altogether. so don't go to the grocery store if you can avoid it. joining us now by phone is los angeles mayor, eric garcetti. mr. mayor, thank you very much for joining us. why do you believe that this week is critical? >> reporter: you kno >> you know, a good day is when it's still getting worse, but not getting worse faster than it did yesterday. and while we've seen some hopeful signs of single-digit increases, the raw numbers still continue to grow. and we're telling people now, you've probably stocked up on food. this is a defining week for us. if we have some momentum, the last thing we need to do is to start coming out of our homes, feeling better, going out there, seeing the spread. and history shows us, those places that knock it down early, but then come out of their homes early are the ones that get a second spike. and so we're really encouraging people, use the most discipline and judgment you have and do the right thing. save lives and stay home.

>> mr. mayor, what got our attention in addition to the seriousness of the warning was the warning against physical activity, one of the things we think of when we think of the city of los angeles, los angeles county, the surrounding hills, the hikes, the jogs, the beach in santa monica. it has been an area where from the feds on down, the guidance has been confusing. what about bike lanes? what about jogging? what about walking? so you are saying, it's just best not to try anything? >> or stay right there in the neighborhood. it's not the time to take a bike ride across town. we've closed off all the hiking trails and the beaches. and it is the iconic part of l.a. that we all know and love. and the quicker we can return to that comes from how disciplined we are right now. so even these days which drive

you crazy, i'll ask you what's worse. a few more days of staying inside, saying, okay, today i won't cross town, i won't go very far, i'll stay in my neighborhood, or preferably, in my house, or weeks more of this? and i think that's a clear choice for everybody. so i'm very proud of my city. we got an "a" from, you know, a national group that rates how many of your people in the city stay at home. but i told people yesterday, we were slipping and becoming a "b" minus. i think people, as this goes on longer, think that, okay, this is a time now where i need to just get out and get some fresh air. if it's not something you have to do, like a doctor's appointment, use whatever discretion you can. and if you do need to exercise, do what i'm doing. i'm doing my old navy exercises in my own room. maybe zoom in with some friends and do old-style calisthenics that your grandma or grandpa probably did way back when. >> you don't really have to do them in your room when you're in los angeles, a lot of people have backyards, unlike here in

new york where everybody is cou cooped up in an apartment building. seeing these images of 405, hollywood boulevard, the grove completely empty, it's almost apocalyptic looking and it's hard for anybody who knows that city well to even fathom a scenario where you can get from one part of los angeles to another, from santa monica to hollywood in 15 minutes, but that seems to be the case now. the other thing that got our attention today was this announcement by you that everybody is going to be able, or at least apply, for a covid test. not just those who are at high risk. explain how that's going to work and how soon you think you can get everybody tested? >> sure. and to be clear, it's not anybody -- anybody with symptoms now. because we had made that only for those that are, you know, over 65 and/or with pre-existing medical conditions or immunocompromised. now we're seeing that we have more tests at the end of those days. we're not going to be able to get everybody who has a symptom, but you can apply for a test now, no matter what your age or

whether you have pre-existing conditions, as long as you're symptomatic. this is not, hey, i think i'll get a test. this is not for asymptomatic people yet. not if you think you've been exposed. it's for people who are sick, who traditionally wouldn't have been able to go through and get it. and we're excited. right now, if los angeles was its own, you know, city or -- sorry, its own state, we would be probably be about fourth per capita right now in testing, per 100,000 people. more than what we saw in south korea, which is kind of the gold standard. so we've ramped up a lot. we have 13 centers, people can drive through, a couple you can walk up to. and we're also testing our seniors and our homeless population. but as you said, it is alternately beautiful or eraeri in los angeles with empty streets. but it's kind of like when we grew up here, it actually is 20 minutes anywhere from place to place in town. >> mr. mayor, one other question. in new york here, governor cuomo announced today that he wants to start plasma testing, basically,

or testing for those who might have had a coronavirus, in order to start the plasma treatments. what is the timeline for los angeles's ability to do that? is that something that you're even seeing on the horizon? >> we're absolutely thinking and planning ahead, but it's going to depend on the medicine and the availability of tests. it's exciting to see these blood tests and to have the false positives now seem to die off. but we need to have that in scale. to do that for an entire city. really, los angeles is a metropolitan area, a city of 19 million people. 10 million in our county, 4 million in the city. so to have that level of tests, where we can return people to work, we do know that this will not be a day where we switch the lights on and everybody returns to normal. but it will be, some people who are more vulnerable will stay at home longer, and those who possibly had been carriers or who have gone through this and come out with the antibodies they need, if the public health officials advise, we could get

them back into the economy, back into work. i'm absolutely supportive of that, but we need real national leadership, where we failed to get tests for people, maybe washington could step up and help us prepare now and scale up now the ability for americans to get those blood tests, those sirology tests that will let us know about antibodies and potentially use some of the people's plasma even to fight the covid-19 for those who are suffering right now. those sorts of things, we've been on such defense nationally. it's finally time for somebody to start thinking at the national level about how to get back on offense, and how to prepare for what we know will be a second or a third wave of this coming in the late fall or early winter and possibly a second time next spring, before a vaccine is brought about. so we hope that that will be something that we see from our national medical leadership, but we have a lot of companies out here that are testing that and have begun to deploy those tests all around california. >> one quick question before we go, mr. mayor.

can you talk about the absentee, the sick rate among members of the lapd and l.a. fire? >> yes, it's quite low right now. we have about 35 police officers out of 10,000 that are positive and about 250 who are quarantined. so it's less than 3% of the lapd. our fire department, which is really well trained in these protocols has a dozen people and two have already recovered, so a dozen people who have tested positive. so we feel like we're at full strength right now. we're following all of those protocols, giving them ppe, and we hope that we can keep them doing their critical work and i thank them for what they're doin doing. >> we'll let you go back to your critical work. thank you so much for being so generous with your time and we continue to wish you the best of possible luck out there with this pandemic. and thank you, both of you angelinos for welcoming one new jerseyan into this conversation

ever so quickly. we'll head to a break now with much more to go in our next hour, including an update on the big story from overseas. britain's prime minister, not just hospitalized, but in intensive care. bill neely has an update on his condition today. plus, elections, in-person elections during a pandemic. wisconsin is voting today, despite the coronavirus. this is what that looks like, forcing people to decide between their personal safety and their constitutional duty in a democracy. stay with us. (announcer) carvana's had a lot of firsts. 100% online car buying. car vending machines. and now, putting you in control of your financing. at carvana, get personalized terms, browse for cars that fit your budget, then customize your down payment and monthly payment. and these aren't made-up numbers. it's what you'll really pay, right down to the penny. whether you're shopping or just looking. it only takes a few seconds, and it won't affect your credit score.

finally! a totally different way to finance your ride. only from carvana. the new way to buy a car.

- [female vo] restaurants are our family. the cornerstone of our communities. and our family needs help. right now they're facing a crisis. and they're counting on your takeout and delivery orders to help them through. because if we don't treat restaurants like family today.. they might not be around to treat us like family tomorrow. grubhub. together, we can help save the restaurants we love.

voting is underway in wisconsin today, despite the governor's attempt to delay the primary because of the pandemic. governor tony evers had asked the state legislature to convey a special session, but city leaders promptly gaveled in and gaveled out only 30 seconds later. they did not debate and did not hold a debate. in response, governor evers tried to postpone by executive order, but the conservative-led state supreme court overturned his order and ruled the primary was back on. so today, wisconsin voters faced a choice. they either vote in person and potentially risk their lives, or they give up their constitutional right to vote. joining us now is wtmj milwaukee reporter, ben jacobs, and msnbc

national political correspondent, steve kornacki. ben, i want to start with you. the lines that we're seeing out there in milwaukee are giving a lot of people pause. it's making people shudder. what are these people doing outside in a pandemic? did this need to happen? tell me about the motivation behind holding this vote today, when other states have successfully delayed their primaries. >> reporter: brian and katy, thank you so much for having me on. i'm currently outside of one of the five polling centers here in milwaukee at washington high school. there's lines wrapping around this football field and they go all the way up toward this direction here. poll workers tell me it takes about two hours to get all the way through this line and people are trying to stay at a good social distancing. there's markings on the ground. people are getting sanitizer when they get to the front entrance. poll workers are provided with masks and gloves and what not,

but it is quite a line here. we've seen that at other locations on the north side, on the south side of milwaukee, not so much. but very long lines here, for sure. >> steve kornacki, it was telling when the president just days ago made a point of saying, people shouldn't vote by mail. they should show up and present themselves and more than that, they should have a photo i.d., a voter i.d. and that nicely lays out the coming debate over the next few months. there are folks, mostly democrats who want voting by mail to be an option, if not the method in all 50 states. give us some idea of what that would take. >> yeah. i mean, you can see here, brian. this is sort of two phases here. think of just -- there is still, as you're seeing today in wisconsin, a democratic primary that's still playing out. and just to show you how the world has changed because of these issues, this is what the

calendar was supposed to look like, right around now. all of these states, puerto rico, were supposed to be voting. of course, they have all moved theirs into late april, into may, into june, even. that is what the world was supposed to look like. instead, this is what we're starting -- some more changes that came later on. this is what we're starting to see. obviously, wisconsin today. the states that are going, alaska, wyoming, ohio. it's a much thinner calendar. they're all moving on the democratic side to all-male voting. that's what's coming up here. kansas, nebraska, georgia. again, expanded mail voting. all-mail, all-mail. and the question is, as you say, when you get through these primaries, you get to the fall and get to that question of the general election where, are the going to be changes then? and obviously, this is going to take place, it looks like, on a state-by-state basis. states make their own rules on these things. and one of the things you're seeing right now a lot of democrats pushing for the idea of, just send a ballotout out

everybody. every registered voter automatically gets a ballot sent out to them. they can fill it out, send it back in. you're seeing a lot of democrats advance that position. what you're hearing more from republicans is the idea of doing that on a more limited basis. the idea of sending an application out to voters over 65 years old and give them the option to send it back in and request an absentee ballot. so as democrats, you're hearing more of that idea of get the plat out to everybody. republicans, you're hearing more, well, we're for some more expanded mail-in voting, but not that universal, automatic "send the ballot out" idea that you're hearing from democrats. >> you know, steve, i was talking to federal election officials about this, about whether or not it's feasible to get all 50s stat states and eve in those states those mail-in ballots, and they say, it's an idealistic idea, but it's not just feasible even if you throw all the money in the world at it. they are optimistic, though, that more people can access mail-in ballots, especially in

the 18 states right now that have those systems in place, the ones that have an age requirement or have an excuse requirement. if they're able to wash away those requirements, they can then send out ballots to more people and potentially go from a 7% mail-in ballot to a # h40% mail-in ballot, thereby decreasing the number of people that have to go to the polls on election day. ben, i want to get back to you when we're talking about wisconsin. because, again, there are so many people that are just confused and appalled by what's happening. i've been talking to sources about what is going on there, they point to, not the primary, but a specific election, having to do with the state supreme court. can you tell me the justice that's up and the motivation for having him get re-elected. >> reporter: well, i couldn't really speak on that, because it would be just purely speculation, but yesterday was absolutely a chaotic day, just to kind of walk you through all

of the developments. shortly after noon, the democratic governor, tony evers, issued his executive order postponing in-person voting until june 9th. republican leadership in the legislature immediately responded saying they're challenging that ruling and they were going to take it all the way up to the supreme court. the state supreme court. the state supreme court came back with the ruling, 4-2, to allow this voting to happen in person today. >> steve, i'm going to take it back to you. let's talk again about the vote in november. the turnout expectations were already significantly higher for what we had seen in primaries and what we had seen in 2018. the democrats had certainly hoped that a lot more people would turnout in 2020 with this pandemic currently shutting

everything down, what are you hearing about the expectations for the number of people who will want to go out and cast a ballot in person in november? >> yeah, look, this is -- we're in uncharted territory here in a lot of ways. one thing we can look at are some of the numbers from wisconsin here. so keep in mind, as of 7:00 a.m. this morning, 864,000 ballots, absentee ballots, mail-in ballots had been returned, had been sent back in wisconsin for this primary. 846,000. now, that is a huge increase from four years ago. in 2018, when, obviously, you didn't have a situation like this, the number of mail-in ballots they had in that primary back then was 61,000. so 61,000, it's gone up to 864,000. there are many more, probably, that will be postmarked that will be coming in today, coming in in the next few days, so you can expect that number to rise. the total turnout in the 2016 primary in wisconsin, remember, you had a big republican, you know, trump primary there.

you had the democratic race, clinton/sanders. it was 1.9 million. that was the total turnout in that primary in wisconsin in 2016. we'll see where that number ends up coming in here. obviously, it's impossible to say this pandemic doesn't have a significant impact, but i think one thing that is remarkable about this is, even in the face of this pandemic, you are still seeing hundreds of thousands, it will be over a million people finding a way to get a ballot in. >> in-person voting in a pandemic. our thanks to steve kornacki, our thanks to ben jordan out in wisconsin, as well. the white house says the rollout of the small business relief program is going well. they've said that every day for the past few days. and that the money is going out. however, there are small business owners out there who don't agree. agree.

where people go to learn about their medicare options before they're on medicare. come on in. you're turning 65 soon?

yep. and you're retiring at 67? that's the plan! it's also a great time to learn about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. here's why...medicare part b doesn't pay for everything. this part is up to you. a medicare supplement plan helps pay for some of what medicare doesn't. call unitedhealthcare insurance company today to request this free decision guide. and learn about the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. selected for meeting their high standards of quality and service. this type of plan lets you say "yes" to any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. do you accept medicare patients? i sure do! so call unitedhealthcare today and ask for your free decision guide. oh, and happy birthday... or retirement... in advance.

the relief small business owners have been seeking might not come fast enough. the rollout of coronavirus loan programs that promise quick cash have been stalled due to technical and regulatory issues. joining us now to get into all of this is nbc news senior business correspondent, stephanie ruhle. stephanie, you and i have been talking about this. i know you have been all over it. at first, the systems weren't working, period, the banks didn't know what to do and then the banks got involved, but applications were stalled. some of the money has gone out, but it's still going slowly, and

now we're going hearing that mnuchin is asking for even more cash for the sba. get us up to speed. >> let's break this down. we've been talking to the sba and all the major banks, and we're likely to see some of the major bank ceos at the white house press briefing this afternoon at 3:00. here's the issue. everyone has the best of intentions. we asked the american people to shut their businesses down. we saw revenues go to zero. and we know from any bank out there will tell you that most small businesses don't have enough money past 27 days to even stay in existence. and thus far, we don't have a federal or national rent relief program or anything like it. so lenders are going to have to say, you're going to have to pay up. let's talk about how the program has worked. it's $350 billion and the sba and this is no insult to them, but the sba is a government agency, okay? they only gave $27 billion last year across the whole year. now they've got to work through

$350 billion in a week. we're talking about a horse and buggy when these businesses need money brought to them in an ambulance. so yesterday the sba was saying, well, we have funded $38 billion. funded doesn't mean dispensed. funded means it goes right back into the process through the banks. they then have to get it over a hurdle. the major banks i have spoken to, city isn't even accepting applications. wells fargo stopped at $10 billion. and as of today, it was only a tiny amount that jpmorgan and bank of america had even given out. but if you were one of those businesses, you desperately need that money. the banks aren't out to get you, but they have huge regulatory hurdles. they can't just give it out without really knowing who these customers are. and one more really important point. one of the reasons they desperately need more money, why we know that there is far more than $350 billion in demand, and this is important for people to understand, they changed the language in the program.

originally, it was for service businesses, whose revenue was down 50% or more. now, they changed that language, not with any bad intention, but they changed it because they wanted loser language to get the loans through faster. and now basically any business with employees of 500 people or less, who can say, i've been impacted by corona, can go out there and apply. so you are seeing people rush to the door, because this is free money. if you keep your employees on, it's forgivable. it makes sense why so many people say, um, i'm eligible, i'm going to go for it. but just because you're eligible doesn't mean it's going to get to the neediest businesses out there, businesses that will face permanent closures if weeks, if not days. >> hey, stephanie, predict the future. a year from now, when you and i are on television, what will we be saying about the massive rescue effort to american business that we realize a year

from now? >> well, brian, on the surface, we are absolutely not going to have a v-shaped recovery. ben bernanke said it in a presentation earlier today. tom colicchio has said, we could lose 50% of our businesses. think about the retail and restaurant industry. that's 50 million employees. we knew the amazon effect was already hurting the american mall. it's crushing it. but let's just talk about one more thing, oversight. do you remember when occupy wall street was born? it was after the financial crisis when there wasn't transparency around how that tapper money was given out to institutions. now you're seeing the administration take away more and more oversight and give more and more control to secretary mnuchin. and i'm not saying secretary mnuchin is up to anything nefarious, but while the country is literally suffering from a health crisis and we're dying economically, not being transparent about where all of this money goes could create true social unrest, where income inequality could get

significantly worse and people will be standing up, fighting against this. that is my biggest fear of what we will see one year from now. >> thank you for a forthright, if not thoroughly scary answer, stephanie ruhle, who covers all manner of economics for us. there are some major staffing shake ups happening at the white house amid all of this. the press secretary, who americans have never seen brief the press, stephanie grisham, that woman, will be stepping down to return to the first lady's staff. grisham may not be a familiar face to those of you at home. that's an understatement. again, she never held a single formal daily press briefing during her nine months on the job. she is set to be replaced by trump campaign press secretary kayleigh mcenany. she came to prominence as a pro-trump backer on cnn during

the 2016 campaign. mcenany had this to say about the then-developing coronavirus crisis. this was back in february. >> this president will always put america first, he will always protect american citizens, we will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here, we will not see terrorism come here. and isn't that refreshing when contrasting it with the awful presidency of president obama? >> so there is your new white house press secretary on the left-hand side of the screen. katy tur, you covered the white house, i covered the white house decades ago, but we both know that briefing room dynamic very well. this will be another change, let's put it that way. >> another change, indeed. they've gone through a number of white house press secretaries. there was sean spicer, there was for a very short period, anthony

scaramucci, stephanie grisham wasn't there that long when all is said is done, but never held a press briefing. in 2016, she was the press handl handler, did logistics for the media, made sure we all got on buss and planets and got to where we were going. after that, she went to the first lady's office, and it seems like she was one of the last people standing to get that job when sarah sanders decided to go and look at new opportunities when she left last year. mcenany, you'll remember, as you said, was a vocal supporter of donald trump in 2016 on cnn, defending him at every single turn. she left cnn to go take a job with the republican national committee and then went from there to the trump campaign, where she's been working as a spokesperson. she's maintained a very, very steadfast support of this administration, despite the many criticisms that have come its way. and again, her talking about

coronavirus, her assessment of coronavirus mirrored the republican talking points on it. it mirrored the administration talking points on it very early. the fox news talking points on it, that it was not a big deal, it was no scarier than the flu, and that the president was not going to let it in here. obviously, we know, none of those things are the case. >> coronavirus, of course, is the backdrop for all that we are covering these days. and when we come back, it is certainly the backdrop in the uk. the prime minister there remains in intensive care. our correspondent bill neely with a live update after this. at papa john's, we want you to know that from our 450-degree oven, to box, to you, it's our policy that your pizza is never touched once it comes out of the oven. and we're taking extra steps, like no contact delivery, to ensure it.

i know that every time that i suit up, there is a chance that that's the last time.

300 miles an hour, thats where i feel normal. i might be crazy but i'm not stupid. having an annuity tells me that i'm protected. during turbulent times, consider protected lifetime income from an annuity as part of your retirement plan. this can help you cover your essential monthly expenses. learn more at protectedincome.org . in this world where people are staying at home, many of life's moments are being put on hold. at carvana, we understand that for some getting a car just can't wait. that's why the new way to buy and sell a car is also the safer way. at carvana, you can do it all 100% online from home with a touchless delivery and pickup process to keep you safe. and for even greater peace of mind, all carvana cars come with a 7-day return policy. so if you need to keep moving, it's our goal to keep you safe. check out carvana, the safer way to buy a car.

let's go now to london, where 10 downing says british prime minister boris johnson is now in stable condition after a night in intensive care. officials say johnson is receiving standard oxygen and has not required a ventilator. the prime minister was first admitted to st. thomas hospital on sunday night, as his covid symptoms persisted and worsened. in johnson's absence, britain's foreign minister, dominic raab, has been deputized to lead the country. joining us now from london's st. thomas hospital, nbc news's chief global correspondent, bill neely. so, bill, 10 downing says he is okay. what do we know right now and what do we know about dominic

raab and his ability to lead the country and what happens if things get worse with the prime minister? >> indeed, katy, let me deal with his condition first. he's spending his third night here at st. thomas' hospital. his second night in intensive care. and it was interesting, he said that his condition was stable overnight. in other words, last night, but they haven't really given us an update on his condition this afternoon and this evening, except to say that he's in good spirits. that he is conscience, as you say, he's not on a ventilator. he does not have pneumonia, and he does have access to oxygen, should he need that. that's all very reassuring. but look, if you're in an intensive care unit, you are in serious condition and you do have breathing difficulties. and i think that clearly is the issue. and indeed, two-thirds of people who are brought into an icu unit like this one in the uk, two-thirds, within 24 hours are

put on a ventilator, though so far, they say, that hasn't happened. now, his designated deputy is, as you say, dominic raab, the foreign minister, the so-called first secretary of state. he's relatively young, 46. he was only appointed a minister three years ago. he ran against boris johnson to be part leader and to be prime minister. but, you know, katy, it's not actually clear what extent of authority he has, how many decisions he can, in fact, take. he was at a briefing a few hours ago when he was pressed on this, and he pretty much dodged the questions. he talked about the collective responsibility of all of the ministers, but it's definitely not clear whether he can make decisions, although boris johnson has designated him as his deputy. and one other thing. it was quite clear that he and his colleagues are still quite shocked by what's happened to boris johnson and he said

johnson was a fighter and that he would be back in the saddle in short order. now, i think that really is optimistic, because i don't think anyone is expecting boris johnson to leave this hospital tomorrow or anytime soon. >> all right. what a mess and what an unsettling time, as you referenced. bill neely for us in london. thank you. another quick break for our coverage. when we come back, we turn to the about-face from this man, the acting navy secretary, now apologizing for ridiculing the fired captain of an aircraft carrier in front of his former crew. the captain, you'll recall, sounded the alarm about the men and women under his command onboard the "uss theodore roosevelt" aka the big stick.

america's oldest lighthouse has weathered many storms. seeing the break in the clouds before anyone else. together, we'll weather this storm. hold on one second... sure. okay... okay! safe drivers save 40%!!! guys! guys! check it out. safe drivers save 40%!!! safe drivers save 40%! safe drivers save 40%!!! that's safe drivers save 40%. it is, that's safe drivers save 40%. - he's right there. - it's him! he's here. he's right here.

- hi! - hi. hey! - that's totally him. - it's him! that's totally the guy. safe drivers do save 40%. click or call for a quote today. safe people don't want to so i share it. song by song. the dark and the light. the struggle and the joy with my mental health. what's your mission? use godaddy to help make it happen.

acting navy secretary thomas modly is walking back his scathing, ill-timed attack against the fired captain of the nuclear aircraft carrier, the "uss theodore roosevelt," an attack in which he called the just-departed captain brett crozier, who sounded the alarm over the spread of coronavirus onboard, stupid. >> he didn't think that information was going to get out into the public, in this information age that we live in, and he was "a," too naive or too stupid to be the commanding officer of a ship like this. >> he went on to lecture crew members for cheering for captain kro crozier after he was relieved from his post last week, this as cases aboard the roosevelt continue to climb and with more crew evacuations planned in the coming days. with us from washington, our nbc

news national security and pentagon correspondent, courtney kube. courtney, there are so many lessons here to the acting navy secretary and i tend to avoid us using titles like "acting," because it tends to take the administration off the hook. these men and women have all the responsibilities of these secretarial jobs. let's just call them, for now, the navy secretary. read the room, read the crew, read the deck. the military is all about chain of command. they made their affection for this captain obvious. and now please brief us on the mess this navy secretary is in. >> well, so you said -- two of the things you said there are very key to this entire situation. one is the chain of command. from the secretary's perspective, in fact, captain

brett crozier broke his chain of command by releasing that four-page letter pleading for help for both his ship and his sailors. this was just a couple of days after the first cases of coronavirus appeared on that ship. it was very clear, very quickly that the numbers were going to continue to escalate and that they would continue to multiply quickly. captain crozier sent that letter far and wide. that's where secretary modly and other navy leadership came in and started getting frustrated with his behavior. they said, look, you had a direct line to your navy leadership about this, specifically a direct line to acting secretary modly, that if there were problems, if there was anything you needed here, call directly or walk down the hall and go to your one-star admiral and talk to him about these issues. instead, captain crozier wrote this letter, it quickly got into the media, the "san francisco chronicle" first reported it and took off like wildfire.

so from modly's perspective, he broke his chain of command. then there's the chain of command with the soldiers on that ship who applauded and cheered for him as captain crozier was leaving that ship. these soldiers are scared. hundreds of their fellow soldiers are sick, are waiting for test results, are worried about the future of their health. was this the right time to relieve their captain, their beloved captain. and to add insult to injury, secretary modly flew to guam over the weekend and on monday morning he got over the ship's radio and a lot of the sailors who i've spoken with said, they felt like they were being yelled at on top of it from their leader. >> courtney, this whole story is just absurd. the president yesterday suggested that he might get involved. what do you know about what he might be considering and what is next for acting secretary modly?

>> reporter: so the president is commander in chief to these sailors, but he also fancies himself negotiator in chief. he likes to get in the middle of these kind of spats and try to work them out. in this case, look, everyone is just waiting for the next shoe to drop on this and that is potentially secretary modly to either resign, offer his resignation, or even be fired in this case. the real question here is, if that happens, who takes over the navy? secretary modly, you may remember, he became the acting secretary of the navy late last fall after secretary of the navy, richard spencer, was fired by secretary of defense, mark esper. so he was -- modly at time was the deputy secretary and he moved replaced, so the big question is, who's going to take over as civilian if modly is resigned or is fired. >> i know this doesn't matter to the chain of command, but i was talking to one family of a sailor onboard that ship who often has tested negative and

they told me that they believe that captain crozier was doing the right thing to protect the men and women aboard the "uss theodore." of course, that has nothing to do with the chain of command. courtney kube, thank you very much. and as we approach the top of the hour, a quick break for us. but on the other side, a quick update from new york where the governor has kumpled our biggest fear heading into this week. the death toll is, in fact, rising. also, an update from new york's long island, just east of the city. it's becoming a hot spot for cases. we're going to take you to long island, next. to long island, next their medicare options...ere people go to learn about before they're on medicare. come on in. you're turning 65 soon? yep. and you're retiring at 67? that's the plan! well, you've come to the right place. it's also a great time to learn about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. here's why... medicare part b doesn't pay for everything. only about 80% of your medical costs.

this part is up to you... yeah, everyone's a little surprised to learn that one. a medicare supplement plan helps pay for some of what medicare doesn't. that could help cut down on those out-of-your-pocket medical costs. call unitedhealthcare insurance company today... to request this free, and very helpful, decision guide. and learn about the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. selected for meeting their high standards of quality and service. this type of plan lets you say "yes" to any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. there are no networks or referrals to worry about. do you accept medicare patients? i sure do! see? you're able to stick with him. like to travel? this kind of plan goes with you anywhere you travel in the country. so go ahead, spend winter somewhere warm.

if you're turning 65 soon or over 65 and planning to retire, find out more about the plans that live up to their name. thumbs up to that! remember, the time to prepare is before you go on medicare! don't wait. get started today. call unitedhealthcare and ask for your free decision guide. learn more about aarp medicare supplement plan options and rates to fit your needs oh, and happy birthday... or retirement... in advance. - [female vo] restaurants are facing a crisis. and they're counting on your takeout and delivery orders to make it through. grubhub. together we can help save the restaurants we love.

it's more than just fast. it keeps all your devices running smoothly. with built-in security that protects your kids... ...no matter what they're up to. it protects your info... ...and gives you 24/7 peace of mind... ...that if it's connected, it's protected. even that that pet-camera thingy. [ whines ] can your internet do that? xfinity xfi can because it's... ...simple, easy, awesome. [ barking ]

good afternoon. brian williams with katy tur back with you. we were warned this week would be the deadliest of the pandemic by most of the forecasts. there's more evidence of that today, as the death toll from this coronavirus continues to grow across our country. overnight, another thousand lives lost to covid-19 in the u.s. we have officially crossed a threshold of 11,000 deaths from this virus and the u.s. fight to stop the spread of this potentiallily deadly disease pas appears to be far from its apex. here is